


Visible Soul

by blacktofade



Series: Good Kitty [1]
Category: Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Genre: Alternate Universe, Catboys & Catgirls, Crack, First Time, M/M, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Sex Toys, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-10
Updated: 2012-03-10
Packaged: 2017-11-01 17:55:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/359633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blacktofade/pseuds/blacktofade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Alexander is a Baron who takes in a little tabby cat and gets more than he bargains for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Visible Soul

**Author's Note:**

> In my defence, this was going to be a G-rated cat-fest, but then all of my kinks happened /sob. Requires suspension of disbelief in regards to cat biology. I know toms don’t go into heat, but shhhh. This is my brain child and, oh god. I know. Please don’t judge too hard ;__; I’m also trying to calculate how much of my soul I’ll lose if I write an mpreg sequel. Who can say no to ass-kittens? Can possibly be bribed with kind words and/or a harsh beating.
> 
> Title taken from the quote: _“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.” Jean Cocteau._ Please feel free to point out any mistakes/offer concrit.

When the small tabby cat appears on the grounds of Brennenburg, Alexander’s first impression is to remove it at once, knowing that such an animal will only hinder his work if it ever manages to sneak its way into the castle. Yet, as it curls around his feet, mewling pitifully as though hungry and in need of shelter, something beyond his understanding draws him to the creature. He scoops it up into his arms, already hearing the faint purring at the attention he gives it, and carefully looks for a collar; there’s none, but from the ribs he can feel clearly under his palm, he knows it belongs to no one.

“You may hunt the mice in the castle to your heart’s content,” he tells it, briefly catching himself rubbing his fingers behind the cat’s ear. The cat purrs louder and nudges its head against Alexander’s chest as though in agreement, and Alexander sighs softly before making his way back inside, already knowing he will regret his change of heart.

He gives the cat – which after a quick glance, he realises is a tom – a small saucer of cream and leaves it to its own devices, knowing that if the creature is smart enough, he will remain on the higher levels of the castle and won’t become a nuisance.

*

The first morning after inviting the cat into his home, he almost steps on the large dead rat that sits half-eaten by his bedside as though some sort of peace-offering. He throws the remains out the window and leaves another dish of food just outside his study for the tom as a token of his gratitude.

*

He doesn’t see much of the feline for at least two weeks; almost forgets he’s even in the castle, until one day, when Alexander is settled in front of a warm fire, reading quietly, and there’s a faint _meow_ and a creak of the door. He peers over his current page, watching as the cat nudges against the wood, forcing the hinges to give and allowing just enough space for him to slip through. He trots towards him, meowing again before he winds around Alexander’s ankles as though such affection is a common occurrence.

He sets his book aside and gently scoops the creature up, setting him in his lap and scratching carefully behind his ear. He begins to purr, kneading at Alexander’s thighs with his front paws, claws biting into his skin just a little past uncomfortable.

“Where have you been?” he asks and the cat blinks at him, his wide green eyes strangely seeming to understand. “Is it you that has been keeping the mice out of my wine cellar?”

The cat nudges his cheek into Alexander’s palm, encouraging further petting, and shuts his eyes and lifts his head, allowing better access when Alexander rubs under his chin. He feels the rumbling purr under his fingers, the noise oddly relaxing, turning his movements slow and lazy. He’s sure it is a number of people’s ideal way to spend an evening, with a roaring fire nearby and a cat in one’s lap, but it’s not exactly something he’s pictured for himself.

The cat turns in tight circles a few times before curling up, sliding his tail over his nose as though to keep it warm. Alexander continues stroking his soft fur, fingers seeming to automatically find the places that make him purr even louder, and he thinks about resuming his reading but realises he can’t reach his book without disturbing the settled animal.

Curiously, Alexander finds that he doesn’t want to take the risk of doing so and instead leans back and stares thoughtfully into the flames. The cat sighs, the noise unexplainably human, and the purring dies out as he drifts off to sleep, no longer reacting to Alexander’s attention. He thinks it should bother him, but the solid weight draped over his knees is enough to maintain the calm that winds through him, keeping him subdued and tired, as though he wants nothing more than to follow the cat’s example, despite the time being fairly early.

“If I am to keep you, I suppose you should have a name,” he murmurs quietly and the cat’s ears twitch minutely in response. He spends the rest of his evening thinking of one that might suit the creature, but eventually falls asleep sitting up before he can settle on anything.

*

“Max?” Alexander says watching the cat clean its face while sitting on the thick mat in front of the blazing fire. He doesn’t respond, just as he’s done with the twenty or so other names Alexander has been running through all night.

“Arthur?”

No reaction.

“Ivan?”

Nothing.

“Daniel?” This time the cat’s head darts up, eyes entirely alert as though Alexander has found the magic word. “You prefer that name?”

The cat stands, stretching out in long lines before he makes his way over to where Alexander sits and begins to rub his face against his knee. Alexander reaches down to scratch behind the feline’s ear, smoothing out his slightly saliva-damp fur, and the cat just purrs and closes his eyes in happiness.

“Here, Daniel,” he says patting one hand against his thigh and in a blink, the cat jumps up and starts kneading at Alexander’s legs. He laughs quietly and Daniel leans up to press his cold, wet nose into the underside of Alexander’s chin as though in answer. “Well, that is decided upon then.”

Daniel curls up and promptly falls fast asleep.

*

Daniel takes to following Alexander when he returns to the upper levels of the castle after long days, winding around his feet, almost tripping Alexander in his haste and need to be close. Alexander always sets out milk and scraps of cold meat to keep him content and after he gulps them down, Daniel falls asleep either on the floor nearby or on Alexander’s lap. Alexander often wishes he had a life as easy and he makes sure to let Daniel know, as though he will ever understand the foreign words. Daniel usually meows at the noise and rolls onto his back for a tummy rub, biting gently at Alexander’s fingers when he’s had enough.

He leaves his bedroom door ajar one evening as he changes into his nightshirt and Daniel slips through the gap and carefully explores the room as he dresses, sniffing at the low-hanging sheets on the bed, jumping onto the windowsill to peer through the glass. Eventually, Alexander makes his way over to him, running a hand down his back, watching his tail flick and back arch at the touch. He gently picks him up, curling an arm around his back legs and the other against his chest. Daniel purrs and pushes his face against Alexander’s jaw as though leaving a kiss upon his skin. Alexander returns the gesture, pressing his lips against the soft fur of Daniel’s head, and carries him towards the door.

However, halfway there, they pass by a mirror and Daniel catches sight of himself, suddenly hissing and scratching his way out of Alexander’s hold. Alexander lets out a noise of pain and drops him, though he lands nimbly on all four feet, entirely unfazed, too focussed on what he’s seen. He leaps onto the dresser, once more seeing his own reflection and growls low in his throat in warning as his body curves and he hops sideways towards the mirror. He looks almost twice as big as he raises his fur, and his tail looks more like a duster than anything else.

Daniel knocks into the glass with a dull thud and seems to realise that it’s not another cat after all because he sniffs at it for a few moment before turning to look at Alexander and making a quiet noise of confusion as though asking a question.

“That’s _you_ ,” Alexander says, rubbing the scratches on his arm, trying to quell the pain. “As strange as it may seem, you have four legs, two ears, and a lot of whiskers, just like any other cat.”

He taps Daniel softly on his head and Daniel tries to rub against his finger before he pulls it away again.

“Enough excitement for one night, I think,” he mumbles, scooping Daniel back up and carrying on once more out of the room. He sets him down in an armchair and gives one last pet before moving away, stepping back into his bedroom and shutting the door with a soft _click_. He extinguishes all the lamps before drawing the covers down the bed, ready for a quiet night of rest. It’s as he’s just about to crawl onto the welcoming softness of the mattress that he hears a faint jingling of the door handle.

Perplexed by the sound, Alexander makes his way back over the door, opening it carefully to peer around and discover the source. He finds Daniel standing on his back legs, paws next to the handle which he’s obviously been playing with.

“Go to sleep, Daniel,” Alexander commands, trying to shut the door again, but Daniel is too quick and slips into the room before he can move his foot to block the path. He trots across to the bed, jumps onto it, and then has the nerve to meow at Alexander as though he is being too slow.

“You’re not sleeping in here, Daniel,” he begins before Daniel curls up on one of his pillows and shuts his eyes, ignoring him completely. He thinks about moving him back out into the study, but catches a glimpse of his reddened, scratched arm and thinks he’s had rather enough injuries for one night. He sighs in exasperation and leaves the door open slightly in case Daniel wants to leave while Alexander sleeps.

He slips into bed without another word and thinks himself lucky that there aren’t two of Daniel and that he gets a pillow to himself. He draws the duvet up over him and shuts his eyes, falling easily into an exhausted sleep.

*

He awakens briefly in the night when something scrapes and burns the skin of his arm and he peers blearily through the darkness to find Daniel carefully licking at his tender sores. He wonders for a moment if he’ll end up with an infection, but the warm saliva soothes the throbbing pain and the catch of Daniel’s barbed tongue doesn’t seem as rough after a few swipes.

He fumbles half-asleep with his free hand, gently rubbing Daniel’s head in thanks, while Daniel continues his work.

When dawn arrives, Daniel is no longer beside him, but the redness of his arm is gone and the scratches are beginning to heal over already. He puts out extra milk for him that evening and watches with a small smile on his face as Daniel laps it up, purring loudly the entire time.

*

“Daniel, get down,” he complains, only half paying attention to the cat that’s slaloming through vases atop Alexander’s mantle. He doesn’t know how Daniel got up there in the first place, but he seems happy just to sniff each container thoroughly as though searching for hidden treasure. “If you break one, you’re going outside.”

Daniel meows quietly and moves to the next vase, rubbing his face against it as though looking for attention. It wobbles precariously but remains standing, the noise just enough to make Alexander look up over the edge of his notes. Daniel stares at him and Alexander is sure that if Daniel were a person, he’d have a smirk on his face.

“Don’t you dare.”

Daniel goes back to sniffing, but keeps his gaze on Alexander. Alexander narrows his eyes as Daniel presses forward slowly, seemingly innocent, before he rubs against the vase again. This time it wobbles, tips, and plummets off the mantelpiece, and there’s nothing Alexander can do but watch. It bursts into pieces when it hits the floor and the noise is deafening in the silence.

Alexander immediately stands, tossing the papers aside as he moves towards where Daniel stands. Daniel’s ears lower as though afraid of Alexander’s reaction and meows as Alexander steps closer. With one hand, Alexander grabs Daniel by the scruff and tugs him down, carrying him towards the study door and depositing him in the hallway where it’s significantly colder. He shuts the door behind him, keeping Daniel out and holding true to his threat.

As he cleans up the vase and throws the remains into the dying fire to be taken out with the ashes in the morning, he hears Daniel whining pitifully through the wood. He tries his best to ignore the noise, settling back into his chair to resume reading, however, as Daniel begins rattling the door handle, Alexander gives up and decides to have an early night. 

In his bedroom, he cannot hear Daniel’s meows, but it doesn’t ease his guilt. He reminds himself that the cat did wrong and needs to be punished, but it doesn’t help either. His bed seems oddly cold without Daniel there sleeping quietly beside him, but he pulls the covers up to his chin and shuts his eyes.

*

He sleeps fitfully, waking at what feels like every hour, tossing and turning, tangling himself in the sheets. He eventually tugs himself free and stumbles half-asleep from the bed through the study to open the hallway door, outside which he finds Daniel sleeping on the cold stone floor.

“Daniel?” he says around a yawn and Daniel instantly lifts his head and blinks at him. “C’mon.”

He leaves the door open, allowing Daniel to follow behind if he so wishes. He curls back into the warmth of his bed and settles down listening until he hears the quiet, soft padding of Daniel’s paws steadily getting closer. The duvet moves with Daniel’s added weight atop it and the pillow that has slowly become Daniel’s own dips next to his face. A cold nose presses against his forehead briefly before disappearing in a flurry of purring. It seems like the closest thing to an apology Alexander will receive from the feline.

With Daniel once more nearby, he falls asleep easily and doesn’t wake again until late the next morning, when he finds himself sprawled out on his back with Daniel snoring softly on his chest, head tucked under his chin.

*

Daniel disappears for a week mid-way through April, only a month or so after Alexander takes him in, and at first he thinks that perhaps he has a home after all. However, several days later, he reappears, rubbing around Alexander’s legs and getting in the way as though he’s never left.

“Where have you been?” he asks, picking him up, noticing vaguely that he seems to be slightly slimmer and he wonders if he’s eaten. Yet, he knows Daniel is capable of catching and killing small animals, as he does it almost every day around the castle. “It’s not safe on these grounds.”

Daniel purrs quietly and never reveals his secrets.

*

Eventually, it seems to become routine.

As the months pass, Daniel vanishes almost on the exact same day each time and resurfaces just as quickly, begging for food as though practically half-starved. Alexander doesn’t have the time to keep an eye on him, but as long as he returns safely and isn’t terrorising the locals, he’s content to let Daniel continue his habit.

He blames it on being a _cat thing_ and puts it from his mind.

*

Alexander prides himself on not startling easily, but when he wanders into his study, entirely exhausted from a day’s work in the laboratory, and finds a man curled up on his divan, he stops abruptly and lets out a low noise of surprise. The man stirs, hands unfurling from in front of his face, revealing the youthful visage of a gentleman no older than two and twenty and Alexander realises belatedly he’s fast asleep where he lies. Not entirely sure of what to do, the situation so bizarre and unusual, he settles for clearing his throat softly.

“Sir, this is private property.”

The young man murmurs sleepily, eyes fluttering as he yawns and stretches not unlike Daniel the cat, before blinking blearily up at Alexander. It seems to take the man a moment to realise there’s someone else in the room with him, but when he does, he jolts upright, his green eyes shooting open in panic.

He stands, stumbling backwards a few steps until he bumps into Alexander’s desk and finds he has nowhere else to go. His expression is sheer terror as he grapples at the wood, attempting to put as much distance between them as physically possible. Alexander holds his palms up in surrender, trying his best to soothe the man’s fright, but bizarrely he drops into a crouch and slides into the space under the desk, peering up at Alexander through the slats of the chair.

“Are you well?” Alexander can’t help but ask, suddenly worried that a patient has escaped from the local asylum and found their way into his home. The man just blinks at him as though entirely confused by Alexander’s words and it dawns on him that he must be a foreigner. He tries again in French and then in English when there’s still no response, but nothing changes, if anything the man cowers away from him even further.

With his hands on his hips, wholly confused as to what he should do, Alexander peers closer at the man, wondering if perhaps he’s a distant relative, but his face is unfamiliar. It is then that he notices what the man is wearing. At first, he thinks it’s true that the man is a patient for he only seems to be wearing a thin white gown, but when he recognises the pearl-buttons, it dawns on him that it’s one of his own shirts. It’s far too large on the man, swamping his body and reaching almost to his bare knees, his hands hidden by the length of the sleeves, but it’s decidedly one of the spares he keeps in his wardrobe.

“Who are you?” he demands, confusion finally turning to anger and the man begins to shiver, fingers digging into the wooden floor as though he wishes to dig grooves into it with his nails. He half expects him to hiss and arch his back like a cat would do when afraid, but the man remains in his hiding place, lips firmly shut. “What is your name?”

Finally, the man seems to recognise something in Alexander’s tone of voice because his head tips to one side as though listening carefully.

“Your name?” Alexander repeats and the man wets his lips, looking unsure of himself as he murmurs something far too quiet for Alexander to hear.

“Pardon?” he asks softly and the man blinks and hums in the back of his throat before answering.

“Daniel,” he says. “You named me Daniel.”

“Excuse me?”

He thinks it’s the man’s poor grasp of German, but the man repeats himself slightly surer, voice a little stronger.

“You – you named me Daniel.”

“Sir, I have never met you before.”

As though gaining confidence, the man, Daniel, inches out from under the desk, a long expanse of pale legs appearing before the rest of him. He remains huddled on the floor, fingers curled around the chair-back, peering up at Alexander with wide bright eyes.

“You took me in.”

He tucks a strand of his mousy, shoulder-length hair behind his ear and that’s when Alexander finally realises there’s something not quite right about the man’s appearance. He has two strange lumps atop his head that seem to twitch every few seconds, and Alexander doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s staring.

“You must have me confused with another.”

The man shakes his head negatively and shifts forward again, knees splayed as though not entirely balanced, and Alexander begins to wonder if perhaps he’s the local drunk. He leans towards the man discreetly, sniffing for the heady scent of alcohol, but there’s nothing but a clean, soapy odour about him.

“Who am I then?” he asks and Daniel blinks and cocks his head.

“You’re the owner of this castle,” he says as though it’s obvious. “You’re _my_ owner.”

The noise of surprise that escapes him is wholly unforeseen, hanging heavily in the air between them, as Daniel smiles softly.

“I am your _owner_?” he repeats, trying not to let the man see how affected he truly is by the words. If he had known he was Daniel’s owner, he would have surely put him to good use already. He rakes his eyes over the kneeling man and holds back from licking his lips keenly. Daniel turns to one side slightly and Alexander can’t help but notice the way the hem of his shirt rides up as something underneath twitches; his mouth quirks in amusement as he wonders if he’s not the only one interested. However, he takes a step back, startled as what appears to be a tail slips from underneath the thin material, standing out stark against the whiteness.

“Is this a joke?” he snaps, almost regretting it the minute Daniel cowers away from him at his tone. The tail curls around the man’s thigh, slipping under the shirt, and tucking itself nearly completely from sight once more. Carefully, with a slightly shaking hand, Daniel cards his fingers through his hair, shifting the strands between the lumps on his head and when he pulls away, Alexander realises they’re ears, more specifically, _cat_ ears.

“My form shifts,” Daniel murmurs, eyes following Alexander’s every move, as though to make sure he never gets too close. “I thought I would turn back before you returned; I didn’t mean to fall asleep here.”

His feline ears twitching softly as though sensing sounds beyond the room’s walls; unthinking, Alexander takes a step forward and although Daniel shies away he doesn’t hide again, just tenses under Alexander’s gaze, his tail flicking from side to side in agitation.

“May I?” he asks, arm outstretched, fingers hovering by Daniel’s head. There’s a long, silent pause and Alexander begins to think the man will reject him, but eventually he tips his head and nudges up against Alexander’s palm.

His ears are softer than he thought they would be, the fur thin and silky under his fingertips, but they’re decidedly _very_ real, and when he pinches one carefully between his thumb and index finger and tugs, Daniel lets out a quiet noise of discomfort that sounds remarkably like a mewl.

“Forgive me,” Alexander murmurs in fascination, not the least bit sorry, but Daniel settles again, allowing Alexander to push his hair aside to better see where the ears attach to his skull.

The man is certainly a rare gift to science and Alexander would like nothing more than to take him into the lower levels of the castle and find the line that separates his two halves, but there is something that holds him back. He scratches idly behind Daniel’s ear and the man begins to purr softly as though unaware that he is even doing it at all. He pictures himself curls up on the settee, Daniel nestled in his lap with his eyes shut in bliss as Alexander pets him with one hand and holds a book in the other. It is almost the exact same image of how he spent the night before, except with his cat – he pauses and looks down at Daniel, who stares innocently back up at him.

“You are _Daniel_ ,” he says, unable to hide his awe and Daniel nods as though it is what he has been trying to tell him from the start. “You are _my_ Daniel. The very same one that leaves rodents at my bedside.”

Daniel’s throat bobs as he swallows, but he nods in assent and Alexander doesn’t know what else to say.

“When were you going to reveal the truth? If I hadn’t found you here this evening, would I have ever known?”

Daniel curls his fingers into his hair, tugging nervously, his eyes impossibly wide.

“I – I was waiting to turn. I’ve been unable to track the days.”

“You cannot control it?”

Daniel shakes his head and untangles the hair from around his knuckles.

“Not recently; it comes and goes perhaps once every month.”

“For how long?”

Daniel looks at the floor as though he isn’t telling the whole truth, but Alexander allows him the benefit of the doubt and doesn’t question him.

“About a week,” he mumbles and Alexander just nods.

“That is where you have been disappearing to for all this time?”

“I couldn’t tell you; you never would have believed me.”

“Yet you thought I would now? Why?”

Daniel bites his lip and swallows.

“I might need your help,” he says quietly. “I have been having difficulties.”

Alexander grunts in response, trying to sort the mayhem of thoughts in his head.

“You are welcome to the guestroom when it is ready. I will ask the servants to prepare it tomorrow. For now you may continue resting on the settee.”

“Thank you,” Daniel breathes out, voice wavering as if no one has ever offered him kindness before. He stands slowly, still holding himself as though wary of Alexander’s presence, but Alexander knows it’s ridiculous after all the time he’s spent in Alexander’s lap in his feline form. Perhaps, he thinks, it is different when for much of his life he is one being and the rest he is another. Alexander can’t imagine it for himself, but as Daniel edges around him and curls into a ball on the divan, it seems like a flawless blend of the two.

“We shall discuss this further in the morning. I expect answers,” Alexander says, tugging a blanket from the cupboard in the corner. He shakes it out and drapes it loosely over Daniel’s body, watching as he snuggles into the material with a sigh of contentment, giving no sign that he’s even heard Alexander’s words.

He puts another log on the fire to keep the study warm and then disappears into his own bedroom without looking back.

*

When he slips from his room in the morning, he expects to find Daniel asleep where he left him, but there’s nothing but the neatly folded blanket on one of the cushions. He puts it away with a resigned sigh and makes his way downstairs for breakfast.

He doesn’t see Daniel for the rest of the week, until he turns up in his feline form, meowing softly after he drops a dead rat at his feet.

Alexander stares down at him, unanswered questions hanging in the air between them.

“I thought you needed my help,” he says quietly as he scoops the cat up and goes to find him some proper food. Daniel nudges his face into the soft skin of Alexander’s shoulder through his shirt and purrs as though he doesn’t remember a thing.

*

“Daniel?” Alexander calls out, tapping the side of Daniel’s bowl.

He hasn’t show for dinner and Alexander isn’t worried per se – not that he would be willing to admit to it if he was – but he’s certainly concerned because Daniel has never missed a meal when in his feline form.

There’s a storm raging outside, thunder rolling loud and furious above as the rain lashes down against the window. He begins searching for Daniel in the guestroom, carefully lifting long draping curtains and bed sheets to make sure he’s not lounging underneath, but it isn’t until he finds him curled up and shaking in fear beneath Alexander’s bed that he realises it’s the first storm they’ve had since Daniel’s arrival.

“It will not hurt you, Daniel,” he whispers, trying to lure him out from his hiding place and Daniel lets out a pitiful meow in reply. He holds out his hands and slowly Daniel begins to inch towards him, ears flat in fear. When he’s close enough to reach, Alexander gently picks him up and cradles him against his chest, murmuring soft praise to keep him calm. “It is just the weather.”

Scratching behind Daniel’s ear, he makes his way to the window, peering out at the darkened sky. There’s a bright flash of lightening and Daniel digs his claws into Alexander’s chest and attempts to burrow further against him, pushing his face into the space under Alexander’s chin, his breath warm against his skin when he meows again.

“Alright, alright,” Alexander mumbles, drawing the curtains with one hand and carrying Daniel to the bed. “You can trust me.”

He slips under the covers still fully clothed and holds the sheet up for Daniel to tuck himself under, which he does immediately, curling up as though the blankets will keep him safe. Alexander sighs and pets him through the duvet, leaning up on one elbow and wondering how long it will be until the storm eventually passes and he may resume to a normal life.

“I mean that, Daniel. Even in your other form, you can trust me. I am not as bad as you might think.”

Daniel shuffles closer as though to counter his words and purrs almost louder than the rumbling thunder outside.

*

Alexander is not sure what awakens him as he rolls over, noting the darkness still outside the half-drawn curtains. He reaches across to the bedside table that holds a glass of water and takes small sips until he mouth feel less like the Sahara and more as it should. It’s when he’s setting the drink back down that he notices the small form at the end of his bed.

He sits up quickly, leaning forward for a closer view before he realises it’s Daniel. More specifically, Daniel in his human form. He’s fast asleep, soft mouth open, letting out quiet breaths, but he is entirely bare and shaking gently. When he reaches out to touch his arm, Daniel’s skin is cold, goosebumps littering the normally smooth expanse, and he tuts disapprovingly as though Daniel can hear.

“Daniel?” he murmurs, just loud enough that the man stirs, mumbling nonsense and not entirely awake. Daniel stretches and smacks his lips a few times before settling back down and wholly ignoring Alexander.

Alexander clicks his tongue and all but drags Daniel up the bed and Daniel fights him the whole way, limbs splaying every which way, loose and awkward with sleep, thudding without true force against Alexander’s chest. As soon as his head hits the pillows, Daniel pushes his face into the soft material, muttering something that Alexander doesn’t quite catch, but Alexander just drags the covers up over the both of them, keeping the warmth under the heavy duvet.

He curls around Daniel’s back without another thought, hands rubbing at Daniel’s skin to instil heat back into his body. Daniel hums quietly, his happiness palpable when he presses back against Alexander’s chest and begins purring as though back in his feline form. Alexander tangles their legs together and only just contains the hiss as Daniel’s icy feet slip between his own warmer ones. The purring eventually fades as he falls back asleep, but Alexander keeps touching him until the cold seeps away and he’s nothing but a wall of heat in front of him.

It takes him a little longer to follow Daniel’s lead and went he wakes again, Daniel is no longer beside him, the mattress long since gone cold where he once slept, but pillow is still dented, reminding him that it was not just a dream.

*

He’s never thought to question Daniel about _why_ he changes form from feline to human; he’s never really given it much thought, that is until the moment he finds Daniel collapsed in the corner of the guestroom, stripped bare and sweating as though with fever.

“Daniel?” he calls out, moving to kneel at the young man’s side. “Are you well?”

Daniel flinches away from his touch and hisses as though he means it, his eyes strangely unfocussed when he turns towards Alexander. A hand shoots out, fingers curved and nails ready to strike, but Alexander catches his wrist and pins it to the floor with practised ease.

“Daniel, what is the meaning of this?”

The heat radiating off Daniel’s body rivals that from a roaring fire and Daniel leans into the palm he places on his forehead as though it soothes his burning skin.

“Is this a result of your changing form?” he asks, pushing Daniel’s hair back, away from his sweating face. When Daniel looks up, his pupils are blown wide, the green of his irises almost disappearing in the darkness. He nods, no longer struggling under Alexander’s strong hold and Alexander eventually draws away, letting the younger man sit up slowly.

“You need to leave,” he says, voice so quiet Alexander almost doesn’t hear him. “I will lock the door behind you.”

He runs his gaze over Daniel, wondering what he isn’t telling him, but when he glances between Daniel’s thighs and finds him reddened and aroused, he knows almost immediately. Daniel catches his eye, blushing furiously and looking away immediately.

“Please go,” he begs and Alexander drags himself onto legs that don’t feel entirely steady.

“You know where to find me if you need anything, Daniel,” he murmurs, slowly making his way to the door, which he grips with white knuckles.

Daniel doesn’t stand and follow, but he doesn’t close his legs to hide his shame either. Alexander wonders briefly if he’s too sensitive to even touch, if it makes his spine ache with the pressure of so much feeling.

He closes the door behind him, but even through it, Alexander hears the moan Daniel exhales, the one that goes straight to Alexander’s toes and curls them with want.

*

It’s three days after that Daniel shuffles into Alexander’s study, a large sheet wrapped around his body in the place of clothes. It must be the very same one from Daniel’s bed because there’s a dark smudge near the hem that look suspiciously like dried come; Alexander has to drag his focus elsewhere at the thought.

“Would you like a shirt and trousers?” he asks, setting his wineglass down and sitting up straighter. “I’m sure it is infuriating not having anything to wear when you’re in this form.”

Daniel shrugs, the sheet falling off one pale shoulder before he slides it back up.

“I would only need them for a week at most, but during that time I – ah – don’t often have use for clothes.”

Alexander steeples his fingers and rests his chin on them, thinking of the many ways he could address the sensitive issue. He ultimately gives up, knowing Daniel will stammer and blush any way he talks about it.

“You go into heat,” he says bluntly and Daniel lowers his face, tips of his human ears turning pink. He nods nevertheless, but draws the sheet tighter around his body.

“It began when I started becoming an adult,” he confesses, hands knotting in white cotton. “It gets worse with every change. I cannot stop it. It is best if I have somewhere to remain alone to wait it out, and eventually it fades.”

Alexander remembers Daniel’s expression the way he’d been curled in on himself.

“Does it hurt?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Daniel whispers and looks so small surrounded by yards of material.

“Is there a way to ease it?”

Daniel flushes again, seeming to grapple quietly for the right words. The silence stretches on between them until Alexander gently clears his throat and Daniel finally looks at him.

“There are, um, certain _acts_ which may be performed to help.”

Alexander holds back his grin, the way Daniel shifts in discomfort somehow entertaining him beyond reason.

“What sort of acts?”

Daniel nervously plays with a loose thread on the sheet, never quite meeting Alexander’s gaze.

“Acts of a personal sort,” he responds vaguely.

“You can either tell me or show me,” Alexander says, making it sound as though his patience is wearing thin, crossing his arms for added effect. Daniel fumbles wordlessly, starting and stopping his sentences before Alexander holds up a hand for silence. “You pleasure yourself?”

Daniel nods mutely.

“And it helps?”

Daniel nods again before raising his head and opening his mouth.

“A little, but the itch always returns quickly afterwards.”

“What makes it stay away longer?”

Daniel coughs quietly, hair falling into his face.

“Fingers,” he mumbles and for a second Alexander thinks he mishears him, but then Daniel repeats himself and this time it’s Alexander’s turn to blush, but the heat that spreads across his cheeks is anything but embarrassment. “Inside me,” Daniel adds needlessly.

He wets his lips and pictures Daniel on his knees, reaching around behind himself, slick fingers pressing into his body. He imagines how it must frustrate him, drive him half-mad with need when it’s still not enough; how he must wish for someone, anyone, to take him roughly and finally scratch the itch inside him.

Daniel doesn’t seem to notice his heavy gaze, too focussed on his own knee which has emerged from under the sheet, looking pale and unblemished, the skin of his thigh above looking perfect to place a bruise – made by mouth or fingers, Alexander doesn’t care.

“Has anyone ever _helped_ you with your problem?”

Daniel bites his bottom lip and shakes his head. Alexander can’t stop the rush of possessiveness that rolls through him; he wants Daniel to himself and the thought that no one else has touched the man before him only sends lust spiralling down low into his stomach.

“Have you ever wanted them to?” Alexander tips his head, watching Daniel’s reaction and Daniel seems to genuinely think about it before he answers.

“No one has ever offered.”

“If I could assist you, would you let me?”

Daniel’s eyes widen in shock.

“You w-want to _help_ me?”

Alexander holds up his index finger as he says, “Wait here just one moment.”

He knows what he needs as he walks into his bedroom, opening his cupboard, and lifting up the false bottom, revealing a stash of secreted items. He finds what he’s looking for and sets everything back into place.

When he places the object beside Daniel, Daniel’s mouth falls open in shock and the flush of his face returns once more.

“W-what is this?”

“It can help you. It will simulate the act of mating, while allowing you to remain alone in the privacy of your own room. It has never been utilised before now, do not worry. This is just a spare I own. I am a man of means,” he adds when Daniel shoots him a curious look, probably wondering why he would ever keep such an item in the first place. He doesn’t need to tell Daniel that he had it crafted just the day before on the off-chance that sometime soon Daniel would come to him for help.

“You cannot expect – ” he begins, but Alexander cuts him off abruptly.

“You said your fingers were not enough and I am giving you a temporary outlet. The only thing you should be saying is ‘Thank you’.”

Daniel shifts his gaze to the floor, looking apologetic and ashamed.

“Forgive me,” he says quietly. “I did not mean to offend you.”

He lifts the soft leather phallus and hides it under the many folds of his sheet.

“T-thank you.”

Alexander sits back in his chair, crossing his legs, and relaxing.

“Do you need oil?” he asks eventually once the silence turns uncomfortable.

“N-no,” Daniel stammers.

“No?” Alexander replies, genuinely intrigued.

“No, my body, um, creates a lubricant by itself. It’s usually wet enough with that alone.”

Alexander’s eyes flutter shut briefly as he imagines what that means. He could have Daniel anytime, anywhere. Right at this moment, he could push Daniel down upon the divan, drag the sheet down his body, and slide into the tight heat without a second thought. This time Daniel seems to notice the change in his body language, because his eyes darken and he shifts as though the itch has returned already.

“I should return to the guestroom to sleep,” he says quickly, standing and shuffling awkwardly in place for a few moments. “I do not wish to disturb your evening any more than I already have.”

Alexander holds back the laugh that threatens to escape him, understanding that Daniel is lying. He knows exactly what Daniel wishes to return to his rooms to do and it definitely isn’t to rest.

He dismisses him with a wave of his hand.

“Sleep well,” he says softly as Daniel opens the door and begins to slip through, disappearing from sight.

He only hopes that Daniel pictures him when he finally comes, filled to the brim with the leather toy.

*

It is the next morning when Daniel strolls past him in cat form, tail raised high as though he is feeling happy and well-rested. He refrains from commenting and waits until he knows Daniel is elsewhere hunting mice before stealing into the guestroom to assess the damage.

It’s the smell he notices first; the sharp, heady scent of sex that seems to linger, impossible to ignore. He wonders how many times Daniel sought release before finally falling to exhaustion and can’t help but picture him asleep with the toy still inside him, the strength to remove it gone after so much exertion.

The bed looks well-used, the sheets and duvet completely untucked, draping every which way, the pillows scattered about the room carelessly. He leaves the mess for the servants to clear up, but eventually finds what he’s searching for hidden under the furthest corner of the mattress, still slightly sticky.

He knows Daniel no longer has use for the toy while in his feline form, and he would rather his servants didn’t find his most personal items strewn about, so he takes it with him without a second thought. He stops in the bathroom to clean it, washing and drying it carefully to make sure it doesn’t become damaged, and then he tucks it into the bottom drawer of his desk, locking it after to keep prying eyes and fingers away. When Daniel requires it again, he need only ask, he thinks with a faint smile, knowing how Daniel will blush and stammer his way through his request until Alexander finally relents.

He finds himself unable to keep from counting down the days leading up to Daniel’s next heat.

*

However, when Daniel should be crawling to his door, begging for help, he’s nowhere to be found. The days of Daniel’s heat come and go and eventually Alexander catches him every now and then as he strolls around the castle in his feline form once more. He wonders if perhaps the itch hadn’t been as bad as previous times and Daniel had no need of it, but the explanation doesn’t sit right with him.

Eventually, the month passes and Daniel’s next heat is only a few days away, and he returns to his study one evening to find Daniel the cat sniffing around his desk. He immediately runs out of the room when Alexander clears his throat, darting straight between Alexander’s legs as he leaves. Alexander double checks the locks, making sure everything is secure and doesn’t think anything more of it until the week is almost over.

He knows Daniel must be in heat as he hasn’t seen him for a few days, but it’s when he’s digging through his drawers, looking for a paper filled with measurements which he needs to continue his work, that he realises it’s no longer locked. He laughs when he finds the toy missing from its place and knows that he perhaps hasn’t given Daniel enough credit. Every cat is certainly cunning in its own way.

Entirely distracted, he makes his way to the guestroom, lingering outside Daniel’s door and listening to the sounds leaking under it.

Daniel is definitely preoccupied, his moans loud and clear in the silence. He gasps and mewls and pleads for more, and Alexander knows he’s thrusting the leather object inside himself, trying his best to end the heat-cycle. Alexander presses his palm flat against the wood, eyes falling shut, and wishes he could see beyond if only for a brief moment. He wonders how far down Daniel’s chest the flush goes, wonders what Daniel’s mouth tastes like and how it would feel, open against his own.

The noises grow louder, more desperate, but after a long while, instead of crying out in pleasure, there’s a yell of anguish and a dull thud on the wall just to the right of the door. It’s as though Daniel has thrown the toy across the room, frustrated by the fact that it’s still not enough, and Alexander holds his breath to hear the quiet sounds of Daniel sobbing and cursing.

“It’s never enough,” Daniel complains, voice distorting as it filters through the wood.

Alexander only listens a little while longer, the noise of dragging sheets and fluffing pillows enough for him to imagine Daniel curling up and trying to sleep, entirely unsatisfied.

He leaves as quietly as he came, wondering how long it will take Daniel to return to him once more, asking for help.

*

Daniel’s next cycle comes quicker than usual, only a fortnight since the last, and Daniel looks exhausted when Alexander finds him on the divan in his own study. He has another of Alexander’s shirts on, one somehow stolen from his wardrobe without him noticing, and he’s fast asleep with his head tipped back, mouth slightly open. He breathes exactly as he does when in his feline form, the noises gentle like soft sighs.

Alexander leaves him to rest, knowing he must only have a few hours of calm before the itch returns once more, and takes a seat opposite. He folds his hands in his lap and watches the sleeping man without the worry of being caught. Daniel’s face looks softer when he’s not awake, the lines across his forehead missing and the tenseness of his jaw line gone. His nose twitches like it does when he’s a cat and Alexander can’t help it as he rises from his chair and kneels carefully before Daniel, one hand coming up to the side of his head.

Slowly, he lowers it, fingertips brushing just behind Daniel’s cat ears. They jerk away from the contact and Daniel shifts in his sleep, but when Alexander finally scratches him with purpose, his ears perk back up, straining forward as though to give Alexander more room to touch. He begins purring, the noise steadily growing louder until Alexander knows Daniel can’t sleep through it. Daniel blinks slowly, waking lazily with a large yawn and a stretch of his limbs around Alexander’s body. He settles back into the cushions, not seeming to mind at all that Alexander is where he is, petting him like a domesticated animal.

“S’nice,” he slurs happily, tipping his head into the contact.

Despite seeing Daniel so content, Alexander cannot help but ask the question he’s been thinking of since he discovered Daniel’s difficulties.

“Are you happy, Daniel?”

Daniel peers at him from one eye and frown, his purr falling a few decibels.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You are at the mercy of your body. Does it not frustrate you?”

Daniel draws away from Alexander’s touch, eyeing him warily.

“I am happy with who I am,” he replies quietly, but seeming more alert. “What happens to me is just another vice. Even you must succumb to desire sometimes, Alexander, but do you punish yourself for it?”

“Of course not, but I am not a slave to it as you are.”

Daniel shrugs as though he doesn’t quite agree.

“I have urges and they may be stronger, but it is still the same instinctive behaviour.”

“What happens when you cannot satisfy it?” he asks, alluding to the bitter tone of Daniel’s complaint when he last overheard him during his cycle, but Daniel just shrugs again.

“No one can be satisfied all of the time.”

Alexander can’t help but smirk.

“You can’t have been with many considerate lovers then.”

Daniel doesn’t even falter before he answers.

“I haven’t been with _any_ lovers, but even the greatest lover in the world couldn’t make everyone happy all the time.” He falls silent for a moment before nudging back under Alexander’s hand, urging him to continue scratching his ear. “I have learned to live with it and I make the best of what I have.”

He cannot argue with that, Alexander thinks, carding his fingers through Daniel’s hair and listening to the purring that begins once more.

“You’re allowing me to remain in your home, so it is not all bad,” Daniel says with a soft smile and Alexander’s other hand comes up to cup the side of Daniel’s face, thumb gently running over his bottom lip.

“Where have you been before now?”

“Here and there. I was born in England, but when my parents realised what I was, they gave me away. I haven’t been with anyone longer than I have with you.”

Alexander’s brows lift in surprise; he can’t imagine what it must be like to always be on the move.

“Then it is lucky that I found you.”

Daniel turns his face, brushing his mouth against Alexander’s palm.

“Yes,” he says, voice muffled by Alexander’s skin. “Yes it is.”

His pupils are wide when he looks at Alexander again and something soft brushes against Alexander’s wrist. It isn’t until he glances down that he realises it’s Daniel’s tail gently stroking against his arm, the movements lazy but measured. He lets go of Daniel’s face and instead circles the tail with his fingers, petting the soft fur and listening as Daniel’s purring gets louder, quiet mewls thrown in periodically. Daniel’s own hands fall to the seat of the settee, gripping tightly as though holding back from doing anything else with them. His back arches gently, but enough that Alexander notices, he’s about to let go of Daniel and allow him to fall back asleep before the next wave of his heat hits, before he realises that he’s already too late.

There’s a faint flush across Daniel’s face and Daniel lets out a noise of need, spreading his knees open, almost allowing Alexander to see everything underneath the oversized shirt.

“Daniel?” he asks, wondering if he’s lucid enough to understand and answer, but Daniel just presses forward, trying to lean into him.

“Please,” he whispers so quietly Alexander almost doesn’t hear him.

“Daniel, you have to go back to your room.”

Daniel whines low in his throat and shifts again, trying his best to draw Alexander towards him, between his parted legs.

“Take me to yours.”

Daniel leans forward, lips parted and heading in the direction of Alexander’s neck and Alexander might have let them carry on in any other situation, but Daniel is too far gone for the action to be anything other than force from his heat. Alexander grips him steadily by the shoulders, keeping him from doing anything either of them may later regret, but Daniel struggles and pleads and outright begs.

“Please,” he says, one leg curling around Alexander’s hip as he leans back as though to offer everything to Alexander. “You can stop it from hurting. You can pretend I’m someone else, I don’t mind, I swear, just please – ”

He cuts himself off with a low whine and attempts to palm himself through the shirt, but Alexander catches his wrist and pins it against the back of the settee.

“No, Daniel, you don’t have to give in.”

Daniel yowls, the noise far from human, and tries to free himself again. Before he can cause any damage to either of them, Alexander pulls him up onto his feet – though the smaller man wobbles precariously – and begins walking towards the door, dragging Daniel with him. Daniel trips, sprawling along Alexander’s side, and begins rutting against his thigh and Alexander feels the swelling of his cock perfectly through the thin material separating them.

Daniel pants and digs his fingers into Alexander’s skin, clutching for all he’s worth, while Alexander struggles with the door handle to free them. He eventually manages to get it open, but Daniel doesn’t seem to want to move any further, and Alexander ends up lifting him and throwing him over one shoulder. The position is possibly worse for Alexander’s resolve, as Daniel manages to wind his legs around him and thrusts against his chest.

Alexander steadies him with a hand on the back of one thigh, where the cotton of his shirt is slightly damp; Alexander can’t tell if it’s sweat or the wetness building up inside of Daniel, preparing him for a possible partner. Alexander presses his fingers down and listens to the noise Daniel lets out, high-pitched and encouraging and almost enough to make Alexander drop Daniel to the floor and take him where he lands. Instead, he staggers a few more steps to the guestroom and releases Daniel over the bed, but he doesn’t fall until Alexander manages to unhook each of Daniel’s limbs, pulling them away from his body.

The shirt shifts as Daniel flops backwards, hitching further up his legs and when Daniel opens his knees, Alexander can’t look away from the soft skin of Daniel’s cock and the way his inner thighs seem to glisten with natural lubricant. He steps back before he can give into temptation, blinking away just as Daniel’s fingers slip between his legs, pressing into secreted places. Alexander clears his throat and walks back to the door, refusing to turn around when Daniel begins to moan in earnest, the noise of his fingers trusting into his body far louder than expected.

“I am sorry, Daniel,” he says, knowing that Daniel must be half-crazy with need, on the brink of pain and pleasure. He shuts the door, muffling all of the sounds from within, especially the gentle cry of Alexander’s name that falls from Daniel’s mouth, and locks it with the skeleton key he keeps on his person at all times.

For a moment he leans upon the cool wood, pressing his forehead against it to soothe his feverish skin, but he knows he cannot linger, lest he give in to Daniel’s pleas.

He turns away, ignoring the longing of his own body, and isn’t until he’s back in his study that he realises Daniel doesn’t even have his toy to ease the pain. He knows he’s too late to help now; another visit will only make things worse for the man. He pours himself a large tumbler of whiskey and tries not to think about whose name is rolling off Daniel’s tongue as he writhes across the sheets.

*

There are two dead mice just outside his bedroom door the next morning and he can’t help but wish Daniel wouldn’t use his transformation as an excuse to hide and pretend nothing ever happened. As he throws them out the window, he feels a heavy gaze upon him, but for the life of him he cannot find where Daniel is hiding. He moves away without looking back and lets the glass slam shut by itself, the sound dull and ultimately final.

*

Alexander isn’t man of many habits. He doesn’t have enough time for them. He takes his leisure when he can and his pleasure in the spaces in between. With Daniel in the castle, it makes it a little more difficult to enjoy what little time he has for self-gratification, too worried that Daniel may accidentally stumble upon him.

However, as it is, he knows Daniel is mid-way through another week spent cooped up in the guestroom and he has the entire wing to himself. Which is why he’s been sprawled out on his bed for the last hour keeping himself on the brink of release, teasing himself mercilessly with a firm hand wrapped around his arousal. With eyes shut, he finds himself free to picture brown, shoulder-length hair – perfect for twisting his fingers into and forcing the man to his knees – and rosy lips, so wet and inviting. He imagines how prettily Daniel’s mouth would look stretched around him and how he would arch back into every thrust if Alexander were to take him as he should.

He feels his body tense, breaths turning uneven as he nears the edge again, but squeezes the base of his erection and quells the flood of sensation before anything can come of it. There’s a twinge of pain as he denies his body once more and he knows that when it next happens it will finally be time to let go.

He returns to thinking of Daniel in his human form, picturing him trying to ease the itch of his heat, rutting against anything firm and willing to stay still long enough for him to find release. He wonders if Daniel thinks of him when he’s mindless with pleasure, if he ever imagines what Alexander could give him. The toy made to help can only relieve so much of his need, Alexander knows, but real flesh and desire could take him to unknown heights and Alexander hopes he’s been thinking of the possibilities. He could push Daniel to his knees and slide into the warmth of his body while he begs and pleads for more; Alexander would never have to hold back, could press forward as hard and as furious as he likes and Daniel would accept it all.

“Ah!” he gasps, hand faltering as he lifts his hips into the contact.

He’s balancing on the thin line of release when he hears the gentle thud against his window and looks to the side to find the feline version of Daniel balancing on the windowsill, eyes focussed on him through the glass.

“Daniel?” he questions, but before he can stop himself, he comes hard over his hand, eyes falling shut, feeling as though he’s been blown apart. He shudders and works himself through the pleasure, unable to look to see if Daniel still watches him, or if he’s turned away in shame. With one final squeeze, he finally lets himself go, arms falling limply at his sides, refusing to move while he slowly catches his breath.

Eventually he glances over, but there’s nothing on the sill, only the sound of the gentle wind whistling past. He drags himself up, standing on shaking knees, and makes his way to the window, heedless of his state of undress. He carefully unfastens the latch holding it closed and opens it to lean out, looking each way to see if he can spot Daniel leaping from sill to sill, but he finds nothing. There’s a window slightly ajar one floor below and Alexander knows it’s where Daniel has gone.

He leaves the window open, letting the stale air out, and makes his way to the bathroom, running a hot bath for himself to clean the mess from his skin and to soak in while he mulls over his new information.

What he cannot figure out, however, is why Daniel wasn’t in his human form as he should have been, but he gets his answer a week later when Daniel still refuses to show himself, but the toy hidden within Alexander’s desk disappears. 

*

“Your heat pattern has changed again?” he asks his cat when he finally resurfaces, slinking into the room silently and startling Alexander slightly when he jumps into the seat opposite.

Daniel kneads at the cushion below and keeps his face turned away as though he can’t hear. It says much more than Daniel could ever put into words.

“Being in your other form doesn’t allow you to invade my privacy, Daniel.”

The cat lifts his head and blinks, eyes wide as though surprised Alexander brings it up now, but Alexander isn’t the sort of man to stew in his own thoughts for longer than necessary.

“If you were at your most vulnerable as I was, would you allow me to watch you?” Daniel’s tail flicks as though in agitation and his ears flatten on top of his head. “I thought not.”

He takes a mouthful of wine from the glass in his hand and turns to scoop a book off the side table, flipping easily to where he last folded down the corner. Daniel jumps from the chair, landing gracefully on the floor once more before trotting over to the door and leaving without another sound. Alexander doesn’t try to call him back.

*

The last thing Alexander expects to find in his study at the end of the week is Daniel in his human form once more.

“Surely it cannot be time for another heat already,” he says unable to keep the intrigue from his tone.

“You have already seen me at my most vulnerable,” Daniel says quietly, not quite meeting Alexander’s gaze and it takes Alexander a moment to understand what he means.

“If you were in your right mind at the time would you have allowed me to watch?”

Daniel doesn’t answer, but the fact that he has returned is enough. If he didn’t want Alexander to watch, he would have locked himself up in the guestroom for the night, but instead he sits on Alexander’s divan, even as his eyes begin to darken with the beginnings of his heat.

“You need not do this,” Alexander says softly. “I know you have learned from your mistake.”

Daniel rubs at his own thigh, keening quietly.

“It wasn’t a mistake,” he admits as though unable to stop himself from telling the truth. “I sought you out because I realised you have a pattern too. I think my heat is trying to synchronise us.”

Alexander sits heavily in his own armchair facing Daniel and can’t help but notice the trembling of Daniel’s body; he can’t distinguish if it’s anticipation or lust.

“I have already done all I can for you,” he replies and Daniel shakes his head.

“No, not everything.”

With Daniel’s pupils blown wide, Alexander knows what he’s referring to.

“I cannot take advantage of you, Daniel.”

Daniel shakes his head again more vigorously and fidgets against the settee, as though unable to get comfortable.

“You won’t,” he whines. “ _I want this_.”

His voice is deep and rasping, unlike anything Alexander has heard from him before, and for just a second he wonders what it would be like to believe him.

“That’s the heat talking.”

Daniel whines his complaint even as he slips a hand between his legs under his shirt.

“It gets better after a release or two; the heat isn’t as strong afterwards. If I still voice the same sentiments will you promise to help me?”

Alexander truly wishes he could.

“I cannot promise anything, Daniel. I will be the judge of how lucid you are, but until then my answer remains the same.”

Daniel nods this time, teeth almost clacking with the force of it, and his eyes fall closed. It takes Alexander a moment to notice the bulge under Daniel’s shirt that can’t be anything other than his hand wrapped around his cock. He tries not to stare, but he feels Daniel’s gaze on him, hot and heavy and unmistakeable. Daniel ruts up into his palm, but the noise of the restrictive shirt alone is enough to tell Alexander that it must frustrate the younger man. It is only a few moments later that Daniel stands, quickly shucking the clothing before falling back onto the divan and resuming his actions.

Alexander’s eyes seem drawn to the leaking tip of Daniel’s cock and when he finally shifts his gaze upwards, he finds Daniel staring at him, bottom lip pinched between his teeth. Daniel’s hand strokes slowly, drawing up his entire length, squeezing at the head, before sliding back down. Even if Alexander shut his eyes, he wouldn’t be able to ignore the slick sound of skin on skin; he watches Daniel’s face instead, noticing every jerk and change of expression, how his feline ears twitch and flattening atop of his head as his breaths quicken and grow louder.

Daniel shifts the angle of his hips and his other hand slips between his thighs; Alexander can’t look away from the wet opening Daniel’s fingertip circles around and when Daniel finally breaches himself, Alexander almost feels the vibration of the moan he lets out. The finger slides inside with any obvious resistance and Daniel begins pumping it in and out of his body before Alexander even has time to catch his breath. Daniel pants and rolls his body down into his hands, a second finger slipping inside him and Alexander knows he’s probably not ready for another yet, but if there’s any discomfort, Daniel doesn’t show it.

The hand around his cock speeds up and Daniel’s head thumps against the backrest behind, his mouth loose and open as he gasps and sighs out pleasure. His face scrunches up and Alexander wonders if he’s about to come, but Daniel lets out a ragged groan, eyes glistening with built-up tears.

“I-it hurts,” he grinds out. “I can’t – ”

Alexander doesn’t even realises he’s out of his chair until he’s crouched down in front of Daniel, rubbing his palm soothingly over Daniel’s cheek.

“Shh, it’s okay.”

Daniel shakes his head, chest heaving as he tries to breathe.

“So close,” he gasps out. “Hurts _so much_.”

Alexander’s fingers slide through the ends of Daniel’s hair as he tries his best to calm him down, but Daniel’s eyes are still wide with pain and a light sheen of sweat breaks out across his forehead.

“Daniel,” he whispers, drawing the man’s attention back to him and waiting for Daniel to finally meet his eyes once more. “Come for me, Daniel.”

The response is immediate. Daniel arches back, knees spreading wider and fingers sliding deeper, and his body turns into one graceful line of tension as he lets out a strangled yell and releases all over his own hand and stomach. In his many years, Alexander has never seen anything so beautiful and the mess Daniel makes of himself takes his breath away. He strokes his thumb over Daniel’s cheekbone and murmurs praise while Daniel finally begins to calm.

As close as he is, Alexander can smell Daniel’s heady scent, and he wonders if there’s some sort of pheromone within it because his cock twitches inside his trousers as though responding to Daniel’s need. He surreptitiously adjusts himself with his free hand and watches Daniel wince as he pulls his own fingers free of his body.

He glances about as though looking for a place to wipe his hand and Alexander lifts himself up, the joints of his knees cracking loudly in the silence, quickly making his way into the nearby bathroom to soak a flannel in water. He takes it back to Daniel who doesn’t seem to want to move because he doesn’t respond when Alexander holds out the cloth. Alexander lets out a quiet sigh and kneels down once more, gently washing Daniel’s skin where it’s sticky with release. When he reaches between Daniel’s legs, attempting to clean his entrance, Daniel curls forward, clamping his legs together tightly.

“If you won’t do it yourself, Daniel, then you must let me.”

He holds the flannel out once more, but Daniel continues to ignore it. Slowly, Alexander encourages Daniel’s thighs apart, rubbing the slick, oily substance from his skin, avoiding the more sensitive sections until Daniel finally shifts and gives him more room to wipe him down. He hisses slightly as Alexander swipes the cloth over his entrance and Alexander can’t figure out if it’s a human or feline noise.

“How long until it begins again?” he asks as he finishes cleaning Daniel and Daniel sighs with disinterest and curls back in on himself.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

Daniel shrugs, which isn’t entirely helpful and Alexander begins to draw away, until Daniel’s hand reaches out and catches him by the wrist.

“Will you help me next time? Do I seem rational enough for you to finally give in and touch me?”

Daniel’s words start to slur together as he begins to drift into sleep, purring slightly when Alexander rubs his hand between his ears; Alexander lets the damp flannel fall unheeded onto the floor. He collects Daniel into his arms, lifting his slender form easily, and takes him into his own bedroom, laying him on the stark sheets and watching as he seems automatically drawn to the pillow he usually sleeps upon while in his feline form. He rolls onto his stomach and tugs it towards him, nestling into the softness with a gentle noise of contentment. His tail twitches just once before settling down between his buttocks, offering privacy, though Alexander knows he doesn’t need it, not after what he’s seen Daniel do.

Alexander draws the only chair in the room closer to the bed and sits, watching Daniel doze quietly, unsure what to truly expect. The heat is a gradual process, he learns, noticing how Daniel shifts periodically, his movements growing more frequent and more lethargic with every passing minute. Eventually Daniel lets out a grunt of discomfort and slides his knees underneath himself, pushing up slightly and letting Alexander see the heavy arousal once more hanging between his legs.

Daniel turns his face to the side, his normally pale cheeks flushed with colour, and meets Alexander’s gaze. Even with the lamp on the bedside, Daniel’s eyes are still dark and shadowed. Daniel wets his lips and lets out a noise that could possibly be Alexander’s name. Alexander stands and moves closer to the bed, interest piqued.

“What do you need, Daniel?” he whispers, leaning in, eyes focused on Daniel’s rosy mouth.

Daniel blinks and one hand makes its way across the bed as though to grab Alexander, but it stops halfway.

“P-please,” he stammers out, fingers going white where they clench in the sheets. “I need _you_.”

His tail swishes aside, revealing where he’s once more wet and ready and Alexander wants to hold it aside and slam into Daniel’s tight body until he begs for release. Instead, he kneels on the edge of the mattress and draws Daniel to him, letting him crawl into his lap and wind slim arms around his neck. Daniel presses his mouth to Alexander’s chin, his jaw, the corner of his lips, before Alexander finally leans down and kisses him properly, leaving no space between them.

Daniel mewls into his mouth, Alexander’s tongue doing nothing to muffle the noise, but he doesn’t mind because Daniel begins to purr and the vibrations rumble all the way down to his cock. He leans forward, spreading Daniel across the bed, letting his limbs flop bonelessly to the mattress, while his own hands slide over Daniel’s body, memorising every muscle and curve. Daniel winds his legs around Alexander’s waist and pulls himself up, grinding against the front of his trousers, and Alexander knows he must feel how hot and hard he is beneath his clothes because he moans as though he can’t think of anything other than Alexander sliding into him and easing the itch.

Alexander kisses him until Daniel’s breathless and pushing against his chest, needing air. He pulls out of Daniel’s embrace, ignoring the way Daniel pleads for him to return, and stands beside the bed, shedding his clothes with quick efficiency. When he’s entirely bare, he squeezes his cock just once to ease the pressure, before sliding back between Daniel’s legs, which fall open to accommodate his body. Daniel gropes for Alexander’s cock, attempting to slide it into him already, but Alexander pushes his hand away.

“Not yet; you are not prepared.”

Daniel lets out an impatient noise and grabs Alexander’s wrist, pressing two of his fingers into his body easily, allowing Alexander to feel the heat surrounding them.

“Yes I am,” is all he says and Alexander can’t drag his hand away quick enough. Daniel whines at the loss, but doesn’t stop him.

He lifts Daniel by the hips and lines himself up, nudging the head of his cock against his entrance until he slowly slides inside, letting them both feel the stretch of muscle. Daniel moans and Alexander watches his tail twitch where it’s trapped under their bodies, pinned to the sheets with their combined weight. Before he can even press the entire way inside, he pulls out, urging Daniel over onto his hands and knees, and rubbing his cock tantalisingly between his pale cheeks.

Daniel’s tail sticks straight up, hooking at the end as though he doesn’t have the energy to control it all, and he presses back, forcing Alexander back inside to resume slowly sinking into him. The tip of his arousal slips in and he bottoms out, sliding further inside the tight heat inch-by-inch. Daniel arches his back before falling face-first into the mattress as his arms give way. He doesn’t try to lift himself again, just rests his cheek against the sheets and pleads with Alexander for him to move.

“Do it,” he orders. “Mate with me.”

Alexander draws back until he almost slips free and then quickly slams forward, jolting Daniel’s lithe form and forcing a surprised gasp from between his lips.

“Yes!” Daniel hisses. “Yes!”

It’s impossible to stop himself from thrusting hard and fast into Daniel, his movements rough and demanding with his need to possess everything Daniel has to offer. He holds Daniel’s waist tightly, fingers more than likely pressing marks onto his skin, but Daniel doesn’t seem to mind, just pushes back, meeting every slide of Alexander’s body, breathing out encouragement as though Alexander even needs it.

The end of Daniel’s tail flicks with every buck of Alexander’s hips and the one ear that isn’t pressed into the mattress below flattens against Daniel’s head. He strokes one palm over where fur and skin meet just above the swell of his buttocks and Daniel yowls loudly, arching into the touch as though asking for more. Alexander continues rubbing the spot, watching Daniel’s fingers grapple with the sheets, tugging at them as if he doesn’t know what else to do.

He doesn’t even need to reach beneath Daniel to pleasure him further because he suddenly curls forward, his spine one long line of tension, and lets out a low noise of completion, his muscles clenching tightly around Alexander’s cock, giving him the extra push he needs. He only manages to thrust into Daniel a few more times before slams in as deep as he can and comes, the ecstasy whiting out his vision temporarily. He can’t bring himself to move, wanting to stay within the wet warmth of Daniel’s body for as long as he can, but as the minutes pass, he begins to soften and eventually slips out.

He rolls sideways, grabbing Daniel’s hips as he goes and tugging him down beside him; Daniel lets out a soft, contented noise as he hits the mattress and turns in Alexander’s arms to press against his chest.

“Do you feel better?” Alexander finally asks and Daniel sighs, his breath blowing warmly against Alexander’s collarbone.

“Mmhmm,” he answers with a slow nod, nestling further against Alexander’s body, as though too tired to do anything more.

“Will it stay away now?”

“Maybe,” Daniel mumbles, already seeming to fall asleep.

Alexander reaches across the bed, careful not to jostle Daniel too much, and extinguishes the lamp, allowing the darkness to settle around them. He listens to Daniel’s gentle breathing and gently rubs his back, letting a small smile play across his lips as the purring begins.

*

Daniel wakes him in the middle of the night, body taut with need once more, and it’s easy to slide inside him where he’s still slick with seed from earlier. This time Alexander moves slowly, drawing out their pleasure until Daniel finally cries out and spills between their bodies, Alexander following soon after. The exhaustion hits him as soon as he pulls free and when Daniel nudges him a few hours later when daylight is just beginning to slip in through the window, he almost doesn’t have enough strength to satisfy him for a third time.

Afterwards, Daniel falls asleep and snores for the first time as though finally, truly sated, and they don’t wake again until the early afternoon.

*

The first thing Alexander notices when he wakes is the soft purring coming from a lump in the duvet. When he curls it back, Daniel stretches and covers his face with his hands, as though to keep the daylight out. He winds a hand around Daniel’s shoulder and rolls him over, allowing Daniel to press his face against his chest, using it as a temporary shield. Alexander’s body hums with satisfaction and as he wakes further, he cards his fingers through Daniels’ hair, unknotting the tangles that have formed over the night.

Eventually, Daniel rolls onto his back, yawning and covering his mouth with a palm.

“Mmph,” he mumbles, eyes blinking and adjusting to the bright sunlight streaming into the room. “What time is it?”

Alexander tickles behind one of Daniel’s ears.

“Does it matter?”

Daniel shrugs.

“S’ppose not.”

He leans into Alexander touch and shuts his eyes again.

“How do you feel?” he asks, hoping Daniel is no longer in pain, but there haven’t been any more signs of arousal since their last coupling, which seems to be a good sign.

Daniel yawns again, but this time uses Alexander’s shoulder to stifle it.

“Fine,” he mumbles, voice muffled by skin. “Just a little sore.”

A possessive heat rolls through Alexander as he realises he’s the one that left that ache inside him, and he hooks a finger under Daniel’s chin, tipping his head up to slide their mouths together. Daniel responds lazily, movements slow, but still interested – if the flicking of his tongue is anything to go by. After a long moment, Alexander pulls away, eyes drawn to Daniel’s swollen lips.

“You may come to me when you are in heat, Daniel. I shall never turn you away,” he says before he can stop himself.

Daniel dips his head and presses his mouth just above Alexander’s nipple.

“And what if I’m not?” Alexander makes a soft noise of confusion and Daniel lifts his head, meeting Alexander’s gaze with hesitation clear in his expression. “What if I’m not in heat? Can I still come to you?”

Alexander slips a hand behind Daniel’s neck and tugs gently, forcing him to shift even closer. With his mouth dragging languidly against Daniel’s once more, he smiles.

“Of course,” he murmurs. “Nobody ever denies a cat of something it wants.”

He lets Daniel push him onto his back and Daniel’s limbs are loose and pliant as they slide around his body, thighs warm and firm, bracketing Alexander’s waist as he slowly straddles him.

“I want _you_ ,” Daniel says, bending down to graze his mouth along Alexander’s jaw and Alexander slides his hands up, fingers fitting perfectly against the bruises on Daniel’s hips.

“Then you shall have me,” is his only reply.

FIN


End file.
